Pilot parachutes to safety as military jet crashes near Washington

Video has emerged of the moment a pilot of an F-16 fighter was ejected from his aircraft when it crashed during a training mission near Washington.

Air Force spokesman Colonel Pat Ryder said the plane crashed around 9.15am on Wednesday (11.15pm Wednesday AEST) in an unpopulated area about 10km southwest of a Washington harbour.

The plane was based at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, which is also home to the president's plane, Air Force One, he added.

"The pilot ejected and is safe," Mr Ryder told AFP.

Many residents in the area where the plane crashed said they heard the sounds of fighter jets earlier in the morning, but though nothing of it because of their proximity to the military base, The Washington Post reports.

Some reported hearing the sound of the crash and worried it was a bomb going off.

Patrick Dodson, 38, claimed he saw the plane falling from the sky and sprinted from his home to help the pilot, who was still falling from the sky with his parachute.